tariff impact on u.s. jobs probed

While President Trump’s recently announced increased tariff on steel and aluminum imports could increase employment within the facilities that produce those materials in the U.S., the job loss in other industries could prove to be five times larger.

So says a report published by the Washington-based Trade Partnership entitled Policy Brief: Does Import Protection Save Jobs?

The report, authored by Joseph Francois, a professor of economics at the University of Bern, and Laura Baughman, president of the Trade Partnership, contends that just over 33,000 new jobs would be created as a result of the tariffs.

But the report also predicts that the tariffs could see the loss of 179,000 jobs nationally in a wide variety of industries, including car parts manufacturing and financial services.

The tariffs announced by the President are thought to be a doubled-edged sword for the construction industry. They will make domestic steel and aluminum more available for building projects, but may result in a net loss of more than 28,000 jobs because those same U.S.-made materials could end up being more expensive.

The overall employment impact of Trump’s new tariff policies, “do not take into account any potential retaliation against U.S. exports,” the report adds, “only of the tariffs themselves.”

Although the President has called for a 25 percent tariff increase on steel coming into the U.S., and a 10 percent increase on aluminum, he has also indicated he would support exemptions to increases for those same products coming in from Canada and Mexico.

By Garry Boulard